The Virtual World
by EpsilonPanda
Summary: The collection of the stories of peoples' lives as they are trapped in the death game: Sword Art Online. This is rated M for cursing and dealing with some touchy subjects, such as depression and stuff like that, so beware. Also, this will focus more on the emotional and story telling side of things, with only minor combat written out.
1. Chapter 1 - 1 - Kame

[Kame]

Chapter 1 - 1

* * *

[November 6th, 2022; 13:25]

* * *

I slowly opened the door to my house, and slipped off my shoes. I walked through the small entrance hallway, past the living room and kitchen. In the living room, my sister was sitting on a couch, shouting at people over a game, both allies and enemies. I sighed, ignoring her as she cursed out a single person on her team over his death.

I walked into my room at the end of another hallway. I placed down my messenger bag at the foot of my bed and turned on my computer. I walked to my other room and kneeled down in front of my cat's bed. It slowly yawned, stretching and looking up at me.

"Hey there, Kane," I told him, smiling. The bell around his neck rang as he flipped upside down. I scratched under his chin, hearing his soft meow. I chuckled, and stood up. Behind me, the desktop of my computer had appeared, but I ignored it for now. I looked around me, staring at each piece of gaming equipment in my room. Posters representing arcade games and modern games hung in my room. Games from retro consoles up to the newest console sat on shelves, and their respective systems sat underneath a television, their cords bunched up in the back of the cabinet. I turned to face my computer, and put a disc in it. I slowly sat on my bed and looked down at a white helmet. Across the top part of the front, "NVE: NerveGear" was painted across it. I smiled and chuckled. I slipped off my glasses, placing them on an end table next to me. I slowly put the helmet on my head and closed my eyes. I felt a weight on my stomach, and saw my cat laying on top of my, already asleep. I smiled.

I closed my eyes once more as the time turned to 13:30, and said, "Link Start".

As the system logged me into the server and checked my senses, five words were typed out in the center of my vision.

Welcome to Sword Art Online

The white screen and the words disappeared, replaced by a black room with orange lines creating a grid. Standing in front of me was a small console with the words "Enter your name" on it. I quickly typed in four letters: "Kame".

The console faded and was replaced with a new one, along with an image of a generic person. I quickly adjusted the features of the character to look almost identical to myself and hit accept. The words "Thank you" appeared and the room faded, replaced with the forming landscape of a city. As the light surrounding me disappeared, I looked down at my hands. I opened and closed them, grinning like a child. I quickly ran down the street in front of me, feeling the air whoosh past my ears and the chatter of other players pass me. I skidded to a stop under the gate leading out into the field. I took a deep breath, smelling the air.

I quickly ran out into the field, drawing the short sword they provided me. I quickly initiated a fight with the first Boar I saw. Taking down a small portion of its health as it flinched. I turned around, seeing it start to charge. I blocked its tusks with my blade and pushed it away. I jumped backwards and readied my sword. As I started to swing, the blade grew a light green, and slashed through the boar with ease. The rest of its health drained to nothing and it paused in its path. It started to expand, then suddenly burst into particles. I sheathed the sword and looked down at the purple notification screen. It listed the cor, experience, and items I gained from the monster.

I smiled, and moved onto the next boar in the fields.

* * *

Nearly four hours passed as I fought through the hordes of constantly spawning boars and wolves. As the time on my menu changed to 17:30, the bells behind me tolled, echoing through the open field. As I started to head to the next enemy, a white light engulfed me.

As it faded, I found myself in the town square with the other players. I looked around, seeing people confused and frightened. To my left were two people, one with black hair and another with red. To my right stood a tall, muscular man.

As the tall man looked down and smiled at me, a red hexagon appeared in the sky. The hexagons expanded in the sky, covering the whole town. Red fluid seeped down through the slats between each hexagon, forming a humanoid figure. White gloves formed, a long red cape with nothing inside.

"What is that?!" someone yelled, pointing up.

A person behind me cursed under their breath and muttered, "A game master."

"Welcome to my world, dear players," the man said. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba. At this moment, I am the only human being alive with control over this world. You have likely noticed by now that the log-out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug-it is a feature of Sword Art Online."

He paused, letting people shout his questions at him.

"From this point on, you will not be able to free exit Sword Art Online. The NerveGear cannot be removed or shut off externally. If someone attempts to remove the NerveGear from your head in real life, it will emit a high-power microwave, destroying your brain. Questions were thrown at him by players, and he held up his hand. "Sorry, I should have been more specific. The brain-frying sequence will commence if any of the following circumstances are met: ten minutes of no external power, destruction of the NerveGear, two hours of network disconnection, removal, dismantling, or destruction of the NerveGear. The media of the outside world have been informed of this, and the family and friends of many players had ignored this warning. Sadly, two hundred and thirteen players had been erased from the Aincrad and the real world.

"Finally, if your HP reaches zero, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."

That last sentence echoed in my head. The man next to me with black hair cursed under his breath at the man.

Kayaba continued. "At the summit of this world sits a castle, and in it, the final boss of Sword Art Online. Defeat it, and all players shall be logged out. You are right now at the first floor of the Aincrad. Proceed up ninety-nine floors and defeat the boss to beat the game. Finally, I have added an item to every players' inventory." He held out is hands, waiting for people to get the item out.

I swiped two fingers down, opening the menu and accessed the item. As I hit the item labeled "Hand Mirror", a square mirror spawn in my right hand. As I looked into the mirror, staring into my avatar's eyes, I was surrounded by a white light, along with other players.

As the light faded and I looked into the mirror, the character looking back at me wasn't the avatar anymore, but my own face. I held the mirror out and looked over myself, seeing my own body. To my left, the red-haired man had shorter hair and the black-haired man was shorter and had a face of a teenager, like mine.

To my right, the tall, buff man was now a short teenage girl with short, red hair.

"Well, players," Kayaba said through the chaos, "good luck." He slowly faded away, leaving the town square in silence. I looked around, seeing shocked faces on the other players, until a little girl screamed and fell backwards. This knocked people into their senses and they began to rush out of the plaza. I stood there, people running past me, the two men next to me and the girl still there.

The thought of dying here without a reason made my heart pound and my stomach churn. I quickly kicked off the ground toward the west exit of the Town of Beginnings and ran outside the city. I looked around, seeing people partying up and grinding off of boars and wolves. I sprinted toward the path leading through the forest, drawing my blade on the first Dire Wolf I saw.


	2. Chapter 1 - 2 - Aki

[Aki]

Chapter 1 – 2

* * *

[November 6th, 2022; 14:15]

* * *

I slowly stepped into my house that sat on the corner of a small street. To my left, in the kitchen, my mother stood fixing dinner.

"Hey, Aki, sweetie. Welcome home," she said, looking over at me with a smile. To my right was my father sitting on the cough watching a game show.

"Welcome back, Aki," he said, raising his hand up and waving slightly. I giggled.

I smiled over at my mother, taking off my shoes and nodding. "Hello, mom." I stood up, grabbing my school bag and walking down the hall toward the stairs that led to my room. "Hey, dad."

"You heading to play that new game? What was it called 'Sorta Online'?" she asked.

"Sword Art Online, mom," I corrected her. She chuckled.

"Well, have fun. Remember, dinner will be ready in about an hour."

"Okay. I'll be down then," I told her, walking up the stairs and opening the door with a wooden sign on it; the words "Aki" painted across it.

I set my school bag down at the foot of my bed and sighed. I slipped off my skirt and got into a pair of short athletic shorts. I unbuttoned the white shirt of my uniform and slipped into a black shirt, the letters "MWAM" across the center, a wolf's head printed under it.

I stretched, pulling my arm over my head, and exhaled. I walked up to my computer, pressing the power button and seeing the loading screen. As the fans whirred, echoing through my room, I looked around. My eyes focused on the newest generation of consoles that sat on my television stand under a relatively small flat screen. Bookshelves of games sat against a wall, the controllers for each on top of the shelves.

Posters were taped on the walls all around my room for various video games and rock bands. I traced the poster that shows the floating castle and the date of 10/31/2022. I smiled as the jingle for my computer sounded, and walked over, opening a case and placing a disk inside the tower.

The auto run process initiated, and I sat on my bed. I grabbed a white, rounded helmet and stared at the words printed on it. "NVE: Nervegear". I placed the helmet on my head, and lay down on the bed, closing my eyes.

As my clocked beep, I smiled.

"Link Start!" I shouted.

And my vision was filled with colored beams of light.

The Nervegear checked my senses and automatically logged me into the user interface.

As the login screen disappeared, a sentence appeared in the center of my vision.

Welcome to Sword Art Online!

The words faded, and I found myself in black and orange room, a console in front of me. I quickly made a character that looked like any others I made and hit accept, being sent into the world.

The room faded away, leaving me in a large open area surrounded by a city. I raised my arms, seeing them move perfectly, and grinned. On my back was a lance, and a shield was attached to my left arm. I slowly walked down the large street in front of me, toward the gate at the end of it.

To both sides of me, multiple vendors selling all types of items sat, people crowding around them. In some of the smaller streets, people were planning to party up, talking about their plans for leveling and skills.

My excitement took hold of me and I giggled a bit, running out to the gate, only stopping as I stepped into the grass of the plains outside of the city.

A light breeze blew over the fields, the grass swaying back and forth. A few clouds that dotted the sky floated by gracefully. I giggled again, running toward the hill that was to the left of the gate and collapsing on my back, my arms out to my side.

I lay there, the wind blowing over me, my bangs being lifted off my forehead and the grass tickling my wrists. I closed my eyes, feeling a happiness I've never felt before.

A half an hour passed and I opened my eyes, staring at the small cloud above me. I sat up, seeing a few monsters in the distance, and nodded. I unsheathed my lance and started toward a small boar.

The boar charged, slamming its tusks into my shield. I slammed the side of my lance into its face, seeing its health finally drop mid-way. I sighed as it backed up. I took a low stance, my lance reared back. The tip of lance started to glow a light green, and then the whole weapon was lit up.

I felt a power grow in my arm and I unleashed it, charged forward and slamming the tip of my spear right between the boar's eyes. It roared, then stopped all motion. The model started to expand, and then shattered into particles of light. The particles of light floated for a moment until disappearing upwards.

I smiled, seeing a battle result screen and level-up confirmation. I hit accept, allocating my stats to how I wanted them: defense and health.

As I sheathed my weapon, the bell in the city tolled three times, and I felt a tingling sensation take over my body. I was surrounded in a blue light, and saw the sight of the plains change.

As the light faded, I found myself standing in the center of the starting town in the middle of all the players. I looked around.

To my right was a teenage boy, who started up at me. I smiled, cocking my head to one side, and I saw him smile. His face looked awfully familiar.

As he looked away, a beeping noise filled the air. Above us, a blinking red hexagon with the words "WARNING" written across it appeared. The hexagons expanded in the sky, covering the whole town. Red fluid seeped down through the slats between each hexagon, forming a humanoid figure. White gloves formed, a long red cape with nothing inside.

"What is that?!" someone yelled, pointing up

"Welcome to my world, dear players," the man said. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba. At this moment, I am the only human being alive with control over this world. You have likely noticed by now that the log-out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug-it is a feature of Sword Art Online."

He paused, letting people shout his questions at him.

"From this point on, you will not be able to free exit Sword Art Online. The NerveGear cannot be removed or shut off externally. If someone attempts to remove the NerveGear from your head in real life, it will emit a high-power microwave, destroying your brain. Questions were thrown at him by players, and he held up his hand. "Sorry, I should have been more specific. The brain-frying sequence will commence if any of the following circumstances are met: ten minutes of no external power, destruction of the NerveGear, two hours of network disconnection, removal, dismantling, or destruction of the NerveGear. The media of the outside world have been informed of this, and the family and friends of many players had ignored this warning. Sadly, two hundred and thirteen players had been erased from the Aincrad and the real world.

"Finally, if your HP reaches zero, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."

I stood there, staring at the floating figure. Destroy our brains? Killing us?

My stomach churned and I felt extremely nauseous. The world spun around me.

Kayaba continued. "At the summit of this world sits a castle, and in it, the final boss of Sword Art Online. Defeat it, and all players shall be logged out. You are right now at the first floor of the Aincrad. Proceed up ninety-nine floors and defeat the boss to beat the game. Finally, I have added an item to every players' inventory." He held out is hands, waiting for people to get the item out.

I opened my menu and saw one item in my inventory, labeled "Mirror". I tapped it, a hand mirror appearing where the menu was.

I stared at my tall, manly player model, not realizing what this was for.

A yell echoed through the center of the city, and white lights started to engulf players all around. As I glanced at my mirror again, a white light surrounded me.

As the light faded. I looked into the mirror again, though this time the face of my player model had disappeared and was replaced a model of my face.

I looked down at my body, seeing my skinny legs and form, along with the small scar on my right wrist.

It was me. I was in the game.

Next to me, the teenager's appearance had barely changed besides his hair getting slightly longer and his face being more rounded.

Well, players," Kayaba said through the chaos, "good luck." He slowly faded away, leaving the town square in silence.

Thoughts ran through my mind as everything spun around me.

What was he trying to accomplish? Killing off innocent citizens like this is horrible.

A little girl screamed, and everyone began to panic, trampling each other on their way out into the field. I felt my legs slowly give out, and I stumped behind the crowd toward a small side street.

A sign with "Inn" written across it hung over a door, and I slowly walked in, handing the man at the desk some money for a few nights' stay.

I felt any happiness for this game die inside me as I walked onto the first step leading to my room.


	3. Chapter 2 - 1 - Kame

[Kame]

Chapter 2 – 1

* * *

I hastily walked into the Starting City, my health in the red zone. I held my sword, still in its sheath, in my left hand, my newly gained leather cloak's hood covering my face.

As I walked down the rain streets of the city, I looked around. Almost everyone outside sat against a building, their knees against their chest, their hands on their heads. A few were crying, and some were even muttering to themselves. Everyone's eyes were wide open with fear, rain dripping off their faces, not caring about the thunderstorm passing by. I switched my attention off them as a person in armor sprinted past me, sliding around a corner and darting down a small street.

I pulled my hood further over my head and shrugged some of the rain off my shoulders. I rounded the same corner as the person in armor and continued down the small street toward the center of town.

"Thanks, Aki," a girl, the person in armor, said to someone as I walked by. I looked out of the corner of my eye, seeing a relatively short girl standing there in a tank top and short shorts, her hair rather messy, but her face flawless. I saw her turn toward the door and I looked away, continuing on my way.

As I neared the center of town, I noticed my health slowly increase to yellow. I sighed, and stepped into the center of town, walking toward the Black Iron Palace that was directly across from me.

I slowly stepped inside the dark room, lit only by a few torches, hearing the rain lightly pound against the roof of the place. I walked to one side of the room where the grey light shone through a group of windows, gently illuminating a black, marble slab.

I walked up to the slab, staring at the names written all across it, a few of them crossed out. I lightly brushed my hand across every name, counting the ones were cross out. At least two dozen players were gone. I sighed, closing my eyes and looking down at the ground.

I shot open my eyes and turned on the spot, walking out of the palace into the rain, throwing my hood over my head again.

* * *

I lay on a hill near the starting village, my eyes closed and the rain falling on my face. My arms were outstretched, the wet, tall grass surrounding it and covering my wrists. An outline of the sun moved across the sky, covered by the clouds.

As I slowly felt myself drift into sleep, the grass near my rustled. My eyes shot open and I jumped up, my hand on the hilt of my sword. In front of my stood a guy about my height with a rather muscly build. Dark circles sat under his eyes, and his eyes were emotionless.

"Hey, Kame," he said, faking a smile.

"Durako?" I asked. "What the hell happened to you, man?"

"Sword Art Online. It's made my mental state go to hell," he said, sitting down next to the outline of my body. I sat down next to him, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Looks like you're taking this rather well."

I shrugged. "I feel," I paused, staring at my hands, "dead inside. At least I had some emotion before yesterday, but after that… I can't feel anything. There's nothing left to life for me. Everything I've done back there means nothing right now. I don't want to die here so all I can do is fight. I feel if I have to."

"I envy you," Durako sighed, lying down, his arms behind his head. He raised one arm, his fingers stretched out. "At the moment I can't even hold a sword. I wanted to be the top guild leader in this game too, but I guess that isn't happening."

I lay down next to him, smiling. "You'll get there eventually. Who knows how long we're trapped in here. Eventually, you'll be able to pick up a sword."

He stared at me, and after a few seconds, smiled and chuckled. "You're right. Thanks, Kame."

The two of us lay there, staring at the moving clouds, letting the rain ping against our armor.

* * *

I swung.

It was an empty swing. There wasn't any emotion behind it. It was just a movement. Like walking or breathing.

The monster in front of me exploded into particles of light, quickly disappearing from existence. A purple battle result window appeared and I instinctively hit accept. I hadn't been in this game for three days and I was already starting to gain habits.

I stared at the newly spawned wolf, and slowly walked toward it, letting it charge at me.

The wolf lunged, and I just side stepped, slashing at its hindquarters. It turned around, its teeth sinking into my arm. My health turned yellow and I swung my arm sideways. The wolf slid off, slamming into a tree. I rushed at it, slamming my sword into its side. The wolf let out a breath, and exploded. I hit accept of the battle screen.

To my right, a girl sprinted into the woods, a knife at her side. She wore basic leather armor, her short black hair bouncing up and down as she ran.

I sighed and stared at the sky, letting my hood fall off my face.

Was this life now? Slaying petty monsters until the next stage of this game?

The outline of the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon, and the moon began to rise.

And thus, the third day of this life now started.


	4. Chapter 2 - 2 - Aki

[Aki]

Chapter 2 – 2

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes to find myself lying in a bed, staring at a wooden end table. I slowly pulled myself up to a sitting position and looked out the window. Grey clouds floated by, and rain started to lightly peck against the windows. I looked around, recognizing the wooden walls of an inn, and sighed.

I lay back down, throwing the blankets over my head and pulling my knees up to my chest. "What the hell?" I muttered to myself, slowly closing my eyes, letting myself get plunged into darkness.

* * *

As I lay there, slipping in and out of sleep, figures danced around me, laughing and grinning. They muttered words at me.

"Useless, pathetic, worthless, burden, helpless".

I lay on the ground in the center of at least thirty figures, their bland faces staring down at me. I reached out shouting at the top of my lungs for help, until my vision was completely swallowed by images of legs, kicking at me.

My eyes shot open, I felt small tears trickle down my cheeks. I slowly wiped them away, sniffling and staring at the underside of the blanket. Rain still pecked at the windows, and a brief crackle of thunder sounded in the distance.

As I lay there, doing nothing, the rain grew louder and louder, falling faster and faster. Streaks of lightning lighted up the clouds, and thunder rumbled all around, shaking the inn. I smiled. I closed my eyes, letting the sound of rain and thunder sooth me as I slipped into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

I woke up again not a few hours earlier, a message notification appearing in my vision. I slowly opened my eyes, and hesitantly opened my menu, opening the message.

"Oi! Aki! It's me, Tachibana! Didn't know you were actually in here! What inn you staying at?! Let me know and I'll drop by for a bit."

I smiled, re-reading the message, and typed in the location of my inn, and sent the message. I slowly stood up, not caring enough about my appearance enough to change out of the short athletic shorts and blue tank-top. I slowly walked down the stairs of the inn, passing a few other female players on my way down to the entrance, waving to them as they passed.

I opened the door, and stood near the front window, letting the rain fall on my head and shoulders. I looked up, staring at the grey clouds hastily moving across the ceiling of the floor.

As I closed my eyes, letting the rain drip off my face, loud footsteps echoed through the small street. A figure slid, rounding the corner and sliding to the stop in front of the inn. A girl about my height with short, red hair stared at me smiling.

She looked me over once or twice, her smile slowly fading.

"Aki?" she asked. "I know I haven't seen you in person for a year or so, but Jesus, you look terrible."

I chuckled. "It's just the situation."

"Stayed in bed the whole day?" she asked. I nodded. "C'mon, Aki. You love MMO's. You were waiting forever for a full dive experience. What happened?"

"Last night happened," I told her, staring at the brick ground. "Fighting for your own life? It's not what I paid for. I don't want to die because of some artificial intelligence. I want to die a meaningful death."

"I know, but other than the permadeath feature, it's a normal MMO," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"Sorry, I'm not going out into the fields to fight," I told her, turning toward the door to the inn. She stopped me.

"Here, at least do this for me," she started. I turned to look at her. "At least get some levels and start cooking and leather working. It won't be too hard and with the stores and player trades, you don't need to really go out and fight. Hell, I'll help you get started. How 'bout that. Do it for me, please?"

I stood there, staring at her. The two of us had planned to party together through the whole game, fighting every boss together and clearing the game. But when last night's announcement happened, I got cold feet. I couldn't fight anymore. The only thing I could do was sit around and cry. My legs didn't work when I went out to the field, and I couldn't even lift a sword.

But I couldn't drop a promise to her. I smiled and nodded. "I'll try," I told her.

The rain slowly lightened as Tachibana's face lit up. "Thanks, Aki," she said. "I'll message you when I get some ingredients and we'll learn how this works together." I nodded and we said our goodbyes. As Tachibana disappeared down the streets. I sighed, turning around. I reached for the door, but felt something pass by me. I looked down the street toward the center of town, seeing a boy my age walking, a sword still in its sheath in his right hand, and the hood of his leather cloak covering his face. His icon was green, and his health was red, slowly increasing into the yellow.

As his health increased, I sighed. It hurt me to see people risking their lives for people like me. Useless, pathetic, helpless people like me, stuck in the Starting City because of their feelings and their inability to get over a simple shock. I felt tears start to grow in the corner of my eyes, and slowly walked inside the inn, walking up to my room and throwing the blankets over me, closing my eyes and trying to drift into sleep.


	5. Chapter 2 - 3 - Yori

[Yori]

Chapter 2 – 3

* * *

I stood against a tree, sighing and started at the damaged blade of my dagger. I looked up, seeing the moon high above me.

I pushed off the tree and spun around, beginning to sheath my dagger. As I looked up, I stopped mid spin. In front of me, a large, bulb-like creature stood, a large tongue licking its lips. On the top of it was a rounded object, held up by leaves.

A tentacle sprouted from its side and slammed into me. The wind was knocked out of me as I was slammed against a tree. As I slid down, three more of the monsters appeared. My eyes focused on the reticle above their heads, the names reading "Little Nepent". The three behind it filed out, surrounding me as my health lowered into the yellow.

I cursed under my breath and ran at them, my damaged dagger poised and ready to strike. One's tentacles reached out, and I ducked, the long object brushing over my head.

I jumped, embedding my dagger inside of one. It made a small, slobbery noise, and I felt one of its tentacles grab my ankle. It swung me around, slamming me against trees, my health slowly lowering after every hit. As it let go of me, my health inched close to zero, the small sliver of my health colored crimson.

The edges of my vision flashed a dark red, and I heard my own, racing heartbeat in my ears and felt it slamming against my chest. I slowly stood up and turned around, facing the monsters.

The four monsters neared me, and I collapsed to my knees, my hands shaking violently. My body wasn't working.

As the tentacles of all four monsters emerged, as saw a flash of brilliant light, and a man emerge from behind me. His short sword slammed into one of the monsters, shattering it into hundreds of particles.

His sword lit up three more times, each time destroying one of the monsters. He stood there, in the center of the floating particles, sheathing his sword as a Samurai would. He turned around, flipping off his hood and knelt down to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "My name's Kuro. I'm not going to hurt you." He held out his hand.

I stared at it for a second, and felt all of my emotions erupt at once. I hugged him and cried into his chest, screaming and sobbing. His hand stroked my hair as his other arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"You're fine now. You're safe. I'll keep you safe," he whispered.

I heard what he had said, but couldn't process it at all. I kept screaming and shouting, letting my tears fall and slowly fade into the fabric of his black, leather coat.

* * *

I woke in a small bedroom, a blanket wrapped tightly around me. I slowly sat up, seeing me still in my armor. As I searched my inventory, making sure everything was there, the door slowly opened.

"'Morning," the person said as they entered. At the door stood the man from before, who had saved my life. I looked out the window to my left, and saw the sun rising.

"H-hello?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry. I haven't introduced myself officially. My name is Kuro. Well, my player name anyway. Yours?"

"Y-Yori," I said. "Nice to meet you." I slightly bowed my head, and he bowed back. "Why did you save me last night? Weren't you worried about your own health?"

"Nah, who cares about me. I'm just wanting to help others," he said, grinning. "Can't leave a helpless person alone, can I? That'd be just cruel."

"Well, t-thank you. I didn't know what came over me," I said, starting to tear up. "I-I just couldn't stand any more. I-I-I couldn't f-fight back." As tears started streaming down my eyes, he walked up and sat next to me on the bed. His arms wrapped around me, and I held him close to me.

"Listen, you're not going to be in that situation anymore. You're out of that, you're in a safe zone," he whispered. His soft voice calmed me, and I felt my flowing tears subside as I buried my face in his chest.

"Question," I said.

"Ok. Shoot."

"May I stay in a party with you for a while?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Definitely. You can party with me for as long as you want," he answered with a grin. I smiled, and thanked him, bowing. "Well, enough of this. Want to go grab some breakfast?"

I nodded. "Sure," I told him, grabbing his hand and slowly slipping out of the bed.


	6. Chapter 3 - 1 - Kame

[Kame]

Chapter 3 – 1

* * *

I rushed out into the field after spending some time healing in the Town of Beginnings. I drew my sword, making my way deep into the forest, and quickly finding a group of monsters to kill.

I tracked them for a while, paying close attention to their movements and sight ranges. It was a group of large wasps, their stinger about twice the length of my short sword.

A few minutes of crouching in the bushes passed, and I stood up, making no noise.

I gripped my sword and shield tight, running forward and slashing at the monsters. As my sword cut through the first one, the other one in front of my faded, revealing a blue haired man, standing a few inches taller than me.

He nodded to me, and I nodded back. I kicked off the ground, spinning around to face the monsters behind me, quickly charging a sword skill and releasing it toward the monsters.

I hit the battle result screen accept button and turned to face the man.

He had a clean face, and was rather handsome. He smiled, and chuckled. "Hey there. I'm Diavel," he said, holding out his hand.

* * *

The two of us sat at a small table, NPCs bustling around us. We were at a street-view table, watching the rain patter against the large, storefront window. Outside, players still huddled in balls against walls, some now sauntering around the streets like lifeless corpses. A whole day had passed since we were trapped, and players are still like this.

I sighed, turning my attention away from the sight outside and back to Diavel. "So how're you handling this?" he asked before I could open my mouth to start a conversation.

I stared down at my hands, finding the correct words.

"I guess I've taken it rather well. I'm feel rather empty, like all my movements no reason behind them. My swings are empty, and I've started to think that this is all pointless," I told him, staring at my hands, not looking up at him for even a second.

"Such a pessimistic view on this whole situation," Diavel chuckled. "I say to cheer up and think of the positives in this situation!"

"And those would be?"

"It's a video game! We can be anyone and do anything. You can be a blacksmith or a tailor, or run an inn. We have full freedom in this world," he laughed, patting my shoulder.

"Guess you're right," I agreed as our food was brought to us. "That is the reason to play most games, isn't it?"

"You know it!" he said, already starting to dig into his meal, shoving slabs of meat into his mouth and ferociously chewing.

I chuckled, slowly cutting my steak into small pieces. As I raised one up to my mouth, I glanced past the small counter that divided the seating area and the kitchen, noticing a familiar girl standing there, her hair in a white bandana.

Our eyes met, and she glanced away, and I saw her red hair in a small ponytail. I slowly returned my vision to my food and Diavel.

* * *

"Hey, thanks for the food, Kame-san," he said, grinning and patting his stomach.

"Y-yeah, no problem," I said, chuckling. He held out his hand, and I shook it.

"Mind if we party up for a while. Before you decide, I'll tell you right now that I'm a scouter. I map the floor and relay the information to the brokers," he said.

I stood there, thinking it over, then shaking his hand again.

"Sounds like fun. I'll take you up on that offer," I said.

"Great!" he laughed, his voice booming. He swiped his fingers down, and tapped on a few options in the menu, and I almost immediately received and friend and party request. I hit accept on both, and he placed his arm over my shoulder.

"Well, let's get started, shall we?" he said, guiding me out of the Town of Beginnings and to the north section of the floor.

* * *

Diavel and I rushed down a large, stone hallway, it opening up into a room with a large lake in the center of it. Diavel slowed his pace, and I pressed my body against one of the small walls protruding out into the room.

I peeked around a corner, seeing none of the small figures that were goblins, and gave Diavel a thumbs up. He rushed forward, checking the remaining hallways of the dungeon until we came across a large room, a chest in the center of it.

Diavel started toward it, but I stopped him, bending down and picking up a pebble. I tossed it toward the chest, the small rock pinging off it without anything being triggered.

"Can never be too safe, am I right?" I asked, walking forward, and kicking open the chest.

A large list of items received appeared, and I quickly equipped any new armor I received, and walked out of the room, Diavel doing the same.

We passed the large lake, fist bumping and cheering as we began to exit when the floor began to shake violently.

The two of us slowly turned around, seeing the large slowly growing and forming a large, elemental like monster.

"Now this is a fight!" Diavel laughed, drawing his weapon. I did the same, holding my shield out in front of me. "You better get ready!" he shouted at the monster, rushing at him, a sword skill charging.

* * *

Diavel and I sat in a small tavern, laughing and looking over the loot we got.

"Dude, I got a 3 Sharpness, 5 Heaviness, and 5 Damage greatsword!" I said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Really?!" he said, leaning over, his arm draped over my shoulder, his eyes reading through my inventory. "That's awesome, man!" he laughed. "This was a great haul," he said, staring at me.

I nodded as the sun rose in the distance, the rain slowly letting up and the clouds disappearing for the first time in two days.


End file.
